Word.ws English Dictionary

vocal fry

vocal fry noun: a low creaky vocal vibration caused by rapid vibration of the vocal chords, common in some languages such as Finnish. In English, often associated with older Received Pronunciation and more recent North American speech patterns.

Noun

vocal fry (uncountable)

  1. A low creaky vocal vibration caused by rapid vibration of the vocal chords, common in some languages such as Finnish. In English, often associated with older Received Pronunciation and more recent North American speech patterns.
    • Some individuals have overlooked the fact that at such low pitch their voices fade to inaudibility at the ends of sentences, or scrape down to vocal fry.1975, Hilda B. Fisher, Improving voice and articulation, page 158
    • It is perhaps easiest to see the superimposition of vocal fry, so we will begin with this behavior.2004, Lloyd M. Hulit, Straight Talk on Stuttering, →ISBN, page 55
    Synonyms:
    creaky phonation, creaky voice, glottal fry, popcorning

vocal fry meaning in Tamil

vocal fry in Tamil

தாழ்குரலொலிப் பேச்சு

Examples of vocal fry in a sentence

  • Pop singers, such as Britney Spears, slip vocal fry into their music as a way to reach low notes and add style.2011 December 9, Marissa Fessenden, “'Vocal Fry' Creeping Into U.S. Speech”, in Science:
  • Vocal fry is safe as long as you do not do it too loudly or for too long.2014, Matthew Edwards, So You Want to Sing Rock 'n' Roll: A Guide for Professionals, →ISBN, page 112:
  • Vocal fry or creaky voice refers to a voice quality characterized by irregular glottal opening and low pitch.2022, Bronya Roni Chernyak, Talia Ben Simon, Yael Segal, Jeremy Steffman, Eleanor Chodroff, “DeepFry: Identifying Vocal Fry Using Deep...
  • Yes, you can detect a bit of Johansson’s clear, low tone and a hint of vocal fry, though at times that just sounds like some grainy digitalization.2024 May 20, Alissa Wilkinson, “What We Lose When ChatGPT Sounds Like Scarlett Johansson”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the...

Synonyms of vocal fry

Origin of vocal fry

From the resemblance of the noise to the sound of hot fat sputtering in a skillet.

Questions about vocal fry

What does vocal fry mean?
Vocal fry means a low creaky vocal vibration caused by rapid vibration of the vocal chords, common in some languages such as Finnish. In English, often associated with older Received Pronunciation and more recent North American speech patterns.
What is vocal fry in Tamil?
Vocal fry in Tamil is தாழ்குரலொலிப் பேச்சு. See Vocal fry meaning in Tamil.
How do you use vocal fry in a sentence?
Pop singers, such as Britney Spears, slip vocal fry into their music as a way to reach low notes and add style.
What part of speech is vocal fry?
Vocal fry is a noun.

Words near vocal fry in the dictionary

  1. vocal cord nodule
  2. vocal cord nodules
  3. vocal cords
  4. vocal fold
  5. vocal folds
  6. vocal fry
  7. vocal minorities
  8. vocal minority
  9. vocal sac
  10. vocal sacs
  11. vocal tract

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: vocal fry (page history and authors); vocal fry (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-vocal fry.wav.

Cite this entry: “vocal fry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/vocal_fry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.